Wash hanging devices



Nov. 24, 1959 H. M. MULHOLLAND 2,914,187.,

WASH HANGING DEVICES Filed Nov. 6, 1956 M 7 my WMO JM V 0 N0 N a m a M 5 7 Y B m 7 United States Patent WASH HANGING DEVICES Hugh M. Mulholland, Medford Lakes, NJ.

Application November 6, 1956, Serial No. 620,608

1 Claim. (Cl. 2111.3)

This invention relates to wash hanging devices. More specifically, it is concerned with an indoor wash hanging device for use indoors and intended to be used by travellers.

The chief aim of my invention therefore is to provide a wash hanging device which is of simple and inexpensive construction; of which the component parts can be assembled to form a compact unit small in compass and capable of being conveniently carried about in a purse, hand bag or a toilet kit; and which can be easily and quickly set up when its use is required and as easily and quickly reassembled after use.

Other objects and attendant advantages will appear from the following detailed description of the attached drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a wash hanging device conveniently embodying my invention, with the device set up and in use.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the device with its component parts assembled into a self-contained compact unit.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the device with one of its components in axial section and showing the device partly disassembled.

Fig. 4 is an axial section of the assembled device drawn to a larger scale; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing an alternative embodiment of my invention.

Referring first more particularly to Fig. 1, the wash hanging device of my invention in the form there shown, comprises a pair of suction cups 1 which may be of any suitable resilient material such as rubber, and which are adapted to be applied to spaced wall surfaces of a room, for example, of a bath room. Fixedly anchored in each cup 1 and extending axially outwardly from the back thereof is a headed stud 2, see Fig. 4, whereon is rotatively mounted a spool 3 having a circumferentially-notched flange 4 at the distal end thereof, a narrow boss 5 on the cup serving in this instance as a stop flange for the other end of the spool, said boss being of the same diameter as said flange as will be seen from Fig. 3. The terminals of the wash-supporting line, designated 6, are secured to the drums of the spools adjacent the inner ends of the latter. The line 6 may be of cotton thread or yarn but, by reason of being of greater strength and more durable, a relatively fine thread of nylon or the like is preferably employed. The device further comprises a tube 7, which may be of plastic or of a corrosion resistant metal such as aluminum, to serve as a capsule for containment of the line after the latter is substantially completely wound upon the spools as in Fig. 4, when the device is not in use. It is to be further noted from Fig. 4 that the bore of the 2,914,187 Patented Nov. 24, 1959 tube 7 is such as to receive in the opposite ends thereof, the flanges 4 of the spools 3 and the bosses 5 on the cups 1 with a snug friction fit, and that the length of said tube is somewhat in excess of the aggregate lengths of said spools. The line 6 is, of course, passed through the tube 7 before the ends of the line are secured initially to the spools on the cups 1. For convenience of carriage in a hand bag or a travel kit, the parts are so proportioned in practice such that, when assembled, the device is actually about the size in which it is illustrated in Fig. 2 (3" long and 1 /4 diam.) so as to require but a very small space for its accommodation.

When the device is to be used, the cups 1 are withdrawn from the tube 7 and the line 6 is unwound from one or both of the spools to the approximate extent required to span the distance between the faces of two upright room walls, whereafter the line is locked into notches in the flanges of the respective spools. With this accomplished, the cups 1 are pressed against the respective walls for retainment by suction, whereupon the line is unlocked from one of the spools and the latter then rotated to wrap up the excess length or slack of the line. Finally the line is re-locked into a notch in the flange of the last mentioned spool to prevent rotation of said spool and unwinding of the line under the weight of wet articles such as the stocking S in Fig. 1 hung thereon for drying.

As an alternative, the spools may be non-rotatively secured to the cups 1, or even integrally formed therewith as after the manner shown in Fig. 5 wherein said spools are designated 3a. To set up this alternative form of the device, the cups 1 are withdrawn from the tube 7, and one of them applied to one of the room walls. After unwrapping of the approximate length required of the line 6 and relocking the line 6 in the flange of the spool on the applied cup, the other cup is attached to the opposite wall, the slack of the line wound upon the spool on the last mentioned cup, and the line finally relocked into the flange of such spool.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

As a new product of manufacture, a device for hanging washed articles to be dried comprising a pair of suspension line supporting elements of resilient material for attachment respectively to spaced room walls or other vertical surfaces, each such element having a suction cup with a diametrically reduced axial boss at the back thereof and a still further reduced rearward axial extension terminating in an end flange of a diameter equal to that of said boss to form a take-up spool whereto one end of the suspension line is secured, said flange being provided with a peripheral line-locking notch; and a tubular cylindrical casing component through which the line is threaded and into the ends of which the bosses and the end flanges of the respective attaching elements are engageable with a snug friction fit after winding opposite end portions of the line on the spool portions of said elements.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 560,925 Pflueger May 26, 1896 1,466,570 Swindle Aug. 28, 1923 1,793,790 Fowler Feb. 24, 1931 2,177,504 Thompson Oct. 24, 1939 2,261,629 Murphy Nov. 4, 1941 2,412,396 Hanna Dec. 10, 1946 

